Modified 1.4X Z extender ...

[makofoto2]

I can't find my original thread ... asking about modifying, removing that extra tab on the lens mount, that limites which lenses and adapters can be used.

I dremeled it off ... not easy for this old 74 year old who can't see close up very well.

First test shots ... using the Z1.4X on the camera and the Nikon F 1.4X on the FTZ2 Adapter, to produce basically 1,000mm with my 500mm PF Nikkor.

 

[makofoto2]

Yes, I took the mount off first, wrapped it in tape, before using the Dremel.

The Photo of the Lizard was taken before I changed the in-camera, None CPU lens data

 

[AURA PA]

Yes, I took the mount off first, wrapped it in tape, before using the Dremel.

The Photo of the Lizard was taken before I changed the in-camera, None CPU lens data

So EXIF will not show the correct lens data with the modification?

 

[SGA]

Are you getting the expected amount of magnification? With the 1.4X behind the FTZ, it sits further from the lens than it would on a Z lens. The FTZ is normally closest to the body, substituting for the size of the mirror box.

 

[monte12345]

I do have to wonder if the 1.4 F mount teleconverter was a later AF-S style or an earlier "dumb" extender. If it wasn't chipped that would then explain the lack of EXIF information. However then there is the matter of how the AF and Aperture would function. Because IIRC the 500 PF was a late model AF-S lens with fly by wire for both focus and aperture.

 

[makofoto2]

I was using a dumb Z to F adapter. The Z extenders optics that extend out of the front are too fat to allow the FTZ2 adapter. That might be a further experiment, cut away the restricting baffle in the FTZ2.

 

[astirusty]

I can't find my original thread ... asking about modifying, removing that extra tab on the lens mount, that limites which lenses and adapters can be used.

I dremeled it off ... not easy for this old 74 year old who can't see close up very well.

First test shots ... using the Z1.4X on the camera and the Nikon F 1.4X on the FTZ2 Adapter, to produce basically 1,000mm with my 500mm PF Nikkor.

From test shots, it looks like mission accomplished.

You did pretty good with a Dremel. Not easy to hold cutter bit stable on metals. They love to gouge.



If you have a drill press which can get to 3,000 rpms. You can use an X-Y vise, mounted to press table, then pseudo mill on objects with decent precision. Objects do have to be clamp-able in vise. Wooden blocks sometimes help in clamping.

 

[Richard B99]

I can't find my original thread ... asking about modifying, removing that extra tab on the lens mount, that limites which lenses and adapters can be used.

I dremeled it off ... not easy for this old 74 year old who can't see close up very well.

First test shots ... using the Z1.4X on the camera and the Nikon F 1.4X on the FTZ2 Adapter, to produce basically 1,000mm with my 500mm PF Nikkor.

Sorry, not quite sure I understand, is the following right. You have a 500mm pf attached to a TC1.4 and then to a FTZ2 so it will fit a Z body. And then you have fitted a Z mount TC1.4 to the camera body and then the 500mm ‘stack’ onto that so that you have the 2 1.4 converters in series? Did did you need to take the tab off so that you could connect to the FTZ.

 

[atigun]

I was using a dumb Z to F adapter. The Z extenders optics that extend out of the front are too fat to allow the FTZ2 adapter. That might be a further experiment, cut away the restricting baffle in the FTZ2.

To save you from that surgery, here is a thread where that was attempted, discovering that there is also a block in the firmware preventing such use. (He actually forced the converter to match the FTZ adapter causing som scratching of the extending part of the converter). The firmware recognized that it was not a Z-lens and prevented its use.

https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?topic=11298.msg211382#msg211382

A used TC-14E III is quite inexpensive these days, and gives excellent results with both the 300PF and the 500PF and FTZ adapter on a high resolution body like the Z8, probably optically better than the off-label use of the Z model with a dumb adapter where the TC is likely in a non-optimal position. (There must be a good reason while these converters are designed to extend into the lens throat.)

 

[makofoto2]

I have that extender. See the OP

 

[makofoto2]

No defeating Physics.

 

[atigun]

I have that extender. See the OP

Oops, I missed the point that you were trying to stack two converters. It is easier to just use the 2x TC-20E III that also can be gotten at quite reasonable prices these days. it allows full functionality of the lens with the adapter.

I mostly use the 500pf + TC-20E III combination with my ZWO ASI768 astro camera, which with its 2 um pixel pitch is well matched to the 1000mm f/11 and can provide excellent results if seeing is good, using lucky imaging.







A good reason to hold on to the 500PF beyond its excellent performance on a Z-mount adapter, as the register distance of the Z mount is too short for a Z lens to be adapted to the astro camera, and the focus by wire also prevents such use.



--
Atigun valley, a place north in Alaska